by Olivia Ash
Ezekiel looked into the shimmering blue and white glow. His doubts and concerns faded. Following the light made sense. Going into the deepest of the dark didn’t. Danger lurked in darkness. Everyone knew that. Besides, the light seemed so warm and inviting. Nodding, he said, “That’s a good idea.”
“Ezekiel!” A female voice called to him again.
The sound made his heart skip a beat. He knew the lilt of that voice. Every syllable she spoke was a melody in his head. He longed for that voice. An ache built in his gut and he frowned, stopping mid-step once more. He was moving away from that voice.
He glanced over his shoulder again. Andreas stumbled, his facial expression contorted as he seemed to struggle with something within his mind. Ezekiel wondered if Andreas had heard her voice too. Maybe she called for him as well.
“Zeke,” Andreas said, wincing as though pain rocked him, “I think we’re going the wrong way. Something feels off. I can’t place exactly what though.”
Ezekiel faced the light again. He took a step closer to them, and another, eyes glued to the dancing bulbs of blue light. They drew him in, as though a tether was attached to his chest, pulling and tugging, just a little, inch by inch. Enough to keep him moving forward. Closer to the lights. The warm, inviting lights.
He went to take another step, and a gust of air blew over him from below.
“Close your eyes!” Andreas shouted from behind him.
Ezekiel snapped his eyes shut just as he was yanked backward and landed on his ass on the stone floor. In the darkness behind his eyes, he thought about Sophia. Her face came to him as clearly as looking into glass. She smiled at him, and his whole body reacted.
Firm hands gripped Ezekiel’s head, holding him rigid. “Clear your mind, Ezekiel. Can’t you hear them whispering?” It was her voice again. The one that called to him.
Sophia’s voice was so clear in his mind, he must’ve been dreaming. Ezekiel concentrated on his breathing, taking in one breath, letting it out, and taking in another. He dug deep into his psyche, reaching for his magic to cleanse him. And he heard it—he heard them. The tiny tinkling of one hundred voices twisted into one.
“Come with us. Come with us. Follow us to salvation.”
Ezekiel opened his eyes to see his beloved Sophia’s beautiful face. “What are they?” he asked.
“Wisps. Remember?” Sophia asked.
He did remember. He was with Edric, Sophia, and Andreas, and they had come upon a mass of wisps blocking their path to the vault. They needed to find the vault, to help Sophia find the heirs to the throne. He’d conducted a smoke spell to snuff out their light. But the spell had, obviously, gone wrong. He and Andreas had somehow been separated from the others, and if it weren’t for Sophia calling him back, he’d be lost for good.
SOPHIA
Sophia still had starbursts behind her eyes as she stared at Ezekiel. The wisps’ power had taken them by surprise. As far as she could tell, after Ezekiel had conjured the smoke spell to disarm the wisps, the tiny creatures had intensified their light and efforts, luring him and Andreas down another passageway, one that would be their doom. Thankfully, she and Edric were able to shake off the wisps’ influence and track the other two men down. Just in time.
She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to Ezekiel and Andreas if she had shown up just a moment later, barely long enough to take a breath. She had underestimated the wisps, and it had nearly cost her two of her beautiful men. Two of her team. She didn’t think she would have been able to survive that loss.
“What happened?” Ezekiel asked, as she helped him to his feet.
“You were almost Zeke kabobs,” Andreas said. “If it hadn’t been for Sophia, I think we would’ve both been on spikes.”
Sophia turned toward the wisps that still floated nearby, whispering their deadly promises. “Play time is over.”
She’d faced them in the woods before. She would deal with them now, and they weren’t going to be happy about it.
Concentrating on pulling up her magic from deep inside, she thought about what she wanted to do to the tiny insect-like creatures. She wanted to swat them like flies. Thinking about that, and only that, she cupped her hands. Within seconds, she felt pressure between her palms. When she opened them, a small whirlwind swirled between them. She pushed her magic toward the cloud of wisps.
The whirlwind grew into a tornado, and the chaotic wind whipped at the wisps, sending them sailing into the ceiling, the walls, and the floor. Like insects, they burst into green mush on impact.
Once finished, she reigned in her magic and faced her men.
“Ew,” Ezekiel said. “That’s gross.”
“Shall we continue?” Sophia rolled her eyes and propped her hands on her hips.
They turned around and made their way back the way they came, hoping to find the entrance to the vault that would lead them to a clear direction to follow in finding the heirs.
At the end of the passageway, there was nothing but a dead end. Frowning, Sophia looked back the way they came. “That can’t be. The door has to be here, or why were the wisps guarding this tunnel to begin with?”
The men helped her inspect the rock walls, looking for something—anything—that might resemble a latch or a false front.
“I can sense something is here,” she said.
“Me too,” Ezekiel said.
She ran her hands along the stone, feeling for anything out of the ordinary. As she smoothed them up and down, they started to glow blue.
Ezekiel stepped closer. “Something’s reacting to your magic.”
Encouraged, she continued to trace her hands along the rock. She made the shape of a large door. Starting in one corner, she went across then down, across on the bottom, then up. The second she connected the invisible lines together, the outline she’d traced also glowed blue.
She stood back as a door appeared in the wall. Once solidified, it was as if the door had always been there. But it wasn’t. The magic that concealed the door had to have been powerful. The idea that someone went to such lengths to ensure the room stayed hidden gave Sophia hope that a clue to the heirs really did reside behind that door. Renewed by the hope of finally finishing the task given to her by the oracles, she reached for the door handle and gave it a turn. The wood creaked as it opened inward. Dust filled her nose and she fought back the urge to sneeze.
“We’re looking for anything that points to the heirs. Anything that can shed light onto what happened to them,” she said, as she went straight to the bookshelves. “Or where they were taken to.”
While the others opened chests and rooted around through old scrolls and looked at bejeweled goblets and other trinkets, she read over the titles of the tomes. A few of them were on spellcasting. One even mentioned dark magic which she resolved to ask Ezekiel about later. Then she spotted a thick, brown leather book with no title.
Something about it called to her and felt vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place why. She must have been here before, or read these books, or something. Though, she couldn’t recall a single memory of her doing so. She pressed her fingers to the spine of the tome and pulled the book from its slot. A flash of memory shot through her mind.
Just a smile. Nothing more.
She wasn’t even sure if it was male or female, but the image made her jump back as though she were burned.
“Are you all right?” Edric asked, joining her on her left.
She nodded. “Yes. It’s nothing.”
Shaking the sensation from her mind and her hands, she refocused. She had a job to do, a mission to fulfill. She reached for the book again and ground her teeth against the onslaught of images of the smiling face, a female face. Once fully pulled from the shelf, she flipped through the book’s pages. But it was just another book about the lineage of the royal family. And just like the others, there was no pertinent information about the heirs she sought—no names, or birthdates, or genders. Only a passage about the heirs’ births
. Sophia found it odd that a book covering royal lineage lacked some of the most important information. It seemed as though whoever wrote the entries, did so fully aware of what was to pass. Someone had wanted the heirs hidden, as if they were a myth or hadn’t existed at all.
Setting that book aside, Sophia continued on to the other tomes. But after an hour of searching, she was ready to give up. There was nothing of importance here. Nothing they didn’t already know or that Ezekiel’s books didn’t already tell them. Still, she continued. She would exhaust all options before turning away.
She reached the end of the bookshelf and leaned against it, trying to figure out their next move since they couldn’t find what they were looking for here.
A cold draft blew against her face. Frowning, she peered ahead, looking for the source. Maybe there was a hole in the wall that led outside. She held a hand up near the wooden bookshelf, hovering it just a few inches away. Another puff of air blew over her skin.
“I think there’s something behind the shelf,” she said.
Her men joined her.
“Maybe there’s a lever to open a secret door.” Ezekiel started pulling on the books, looking for a hidden latch.
Edric nudged the sorcerer out of the way, grabbed hold of the bookcase, and yanked it back. The muscles in his arms bulged as his face strained with the focus of pulling on something so massive and heavy. The shelf gave way, revealing a hidden door. Edric and Sophia exchanged glances. She gave him a nod, and he pulled open the hidden door to a crevasse barely big enough to stand upright in. There was no artistry to the hole, just grunt work with a pickaxe and equally as rough in texture to the walls in the tunnels that led them to this room.
Ezekiel conjured a ball of green witchlight. He handed it to her and she nodded in thanks.
Holding the ball of light in front of her to light her way, she stepped into the small room. There was nothing inside, except for something wrapped in cloth, lying on the middle of the floor. She knelt down and gingerly unwrapped the cloth to reveal a stone tablet with sigils carved on the surface.
The script was strange and sprawling, hard to decipher. She wasn’t familiar with these markings and had never seen the language. “Zeke, you need to see this,” she said.
He stepped to the side and knelt next to her. He ran his fingers along the engraved symbols and said, “I’m pretty sure this is Druid.”
Edric frowned. “Druid? There are no Druids in Nighthelm. They are one of the elder races.”
“They’re not in Nighthelm, you’re right,” Ezekiel said. “But they are rumored to live in Ripthorn Mountain.”
“Do you recognize any of the sigils?” Sophia asked.
He pointed to one with a fancy loop and point. “This one. I’m more than sure that it means royal.”
“The heirs are still alive,” Edric said, as he looked at each of them. Similar looks of surprise and awe were on Andreas’s and Ezekiel’s faces.
Sophia nodded, believing that to be true. The heirs had to be alive. The oracles wouldn’t have sent her on a futile chase if they weren’t. Quiet, thoughtful, her mind racing in different directions with possibilities of who the heirs were, she rewrapped the tablet with the cloth and slid it into the traveling pouch hanging off her belt.
“Looks like we are heading for Ripthorn,” she said. “Let’s get out of here before someone finds us.”
The men agreed. After replacing all the items, and the bookshelf, they left the vault and headed for the inn for a few last-minute items before heading for their new hideout.
Chapter Four
Edric
As dawn broke above the city, painting pink and orange over the early morning sky, the group emerged from the side door of the Metropolis. Edric sucked in a deep breath, thankful to be topside and in the fresh, cool air. Ezekiel cast a cloaking spell over each of them, so they could go through the streets without being seen or harassed by the guard that patrolled and searched for them.
Now that it was dawn, and merchants were coming out of their homes to set up their shops and carts, walking through the city would be difficult despite Ezekiel’s spell. As the sun climbed into the sky, more people would flood into the streets, increasing the chance of being bumped into.
As Edric led the group, using the least traversed paths to prevent walking into unsuspecting citizens, he kept glancing at Sophia. She seemed withdrawn. Moving only on impulse. Something happened to her in the vault. She must have seen something, and whatever it was that she experienced, she didn’t seem likely to talk about it yet. He hoped she would eventually confide in him. For now, he had to wait and trust she would come to him in time.
After they passed through the merchant square, Edric led them around the corner of a pub he used to frequent before he met Sophia. A guard marched onto the street with a stack of parchments and nails and a hammer. He held up his hand for everyone to stop. Watching the guard unfold one parchment, he noticed the images under a bold “Wanted.”
His face, along with Andreas’s and Ezekiel’s and Sophia’s, was plastered across the paper. The guard left, allowing him and the group to move closer, so he could read the declarations. Edric clenched his fists as his eyes scanned the words. The poster was nothing but a smear campaign. Sophia was labeled an anima contritum, and he, Andreas, and Ezekiel were listed as her accomplices.
An elderly woman holding a baby approached the board. Edric backed up as she stepped closer and her eyes widened as she read. She shuddered, held the baby closer, and rushed off. The posters were definitely having the desired effect. Sowing and spreading fear among Nighthelm’s populace.
“That’s going to make it harder for us to do anything in the city,” Andreas whispered. “We’ll have more than just guards looking for us.”
“We’re innocent until proven guilty,” Edric said.
“These posters say a whole different thing,” Ezekiel said. “Not to mention they’re working.”
“Yes, this will spook the whole city.” He looked at Sophia. Worry and guilt filled her eyes. He reached for her hand and gave it a loving squeeze. “You didn’t do this, love.”
She swallowed. “You’re wanted criminals because of me.”
Ezekiel touched her cheek. “Hey, I’ve always wanted to be a criminal. It’s more exciting. I was getting tired of doing magic for a bunch of old, doddering fools who never appreciated me.” He smiled.
She did the same, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Edric wanted to pull her in close and hold her until the pain ebbed away. He would have, but he knew she had a purpose and he couldn’t let these posters get in the way of her accomplishing her mission. Wanted or not, Edric would be damned if he couldn’t help Sophia find the heirs.
“If we’re caught, you will all be banished to the mountain,” she said. “That’s a fate far worse than death.”
“Being without you,” Edric said, “is a fate worse than death.”
Andreas and Ezekiel nodded in agreement.
But she spoke the truth, the punishment for traitors against the realm was banishment to Ripthorn Mountain. The rumors were that humans weren’t able to stand the magic of the mountain, seeping into the body and eating everything from the inside out, until the unfortunate soul withered away into nothing. Besides that, the creatures rumored to live in the mountain would be just as horrific to encounter. Edric would face that and so much more if he needed to. Helping Sophia was worth every punishment he would ever face.
His attention was caught by another guard that took station just a short way down the road. He recognized him as an old war buddy and his former guard. Malcolm would have information for them. Maybe even lend a hand. He was trustworthy, and Edric knew he would keep quiet about their meeting.
Turning to Ezekiel, he said, “Get Sophia back to the inn. Andreas and I need to gather intelligence. We need to know exactly what is going on with our people, and what Winston plans to do.”
“Got it.” Ezekiel nodded.
Sophia grabbe
d his arm before he could race off. He met her gaze and nearly gave up on the mission in favor of holding her. She reached up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. She turned to Andreas and did the same.
“Be safe, both of you, and return to me as soon as you can,” she said.
Andreas slapped a hand on Edric’s back and Ezekiel’s shoulder before dissolving into the shadows to meet with his brotherhood in the Shade. Edric stayed glued to the wall until Ezekiel and Sophia slipped down the street and disappeared around the corner. He kept his gaze on the guards milling about to make sure no one had noticed them escape.
Edric moved closer, trying to catch Malcolm’s attention. And only his attention. Malcolm turned his head toward Edric, who motioned with his hand to keep things quiet. He pushed off the wall and walked across the street, gesturing to the alleyway nearby with a nod of his head. Once within the shadows, he watched as his old friend followed. He looked over his shoulder once before stepping into the alley.
Edric said, “It’s good to see you, my friend.” They shook hands, clasping each other’s wrists.
“The word is you murdered the headmistress,” Malcolm said.
“Winston Kent’s word, I imagine.” Edric narrowed his eyes.
Malcolm nodded. “The little shit is spewing a lot of dangerous things about you and this woman, Sophia. He says you’re trying to destroy Nighthelm, to bring about chaos and anarchy.”
Edric snorted and shook his head. “Whatever he’s telling you, it’s not true.” He could only imagine the vile things that bastard spread about him and his companions.
“I know. As do many who are still loyal to you, Commander.” Malcolm glanced toward the mouth of the alleyway. “He’s got a bunch of mercenaries hunting for you and your friends. He knows a lot of us won’t bring you in.”
